Burial vault latch



April 25,- 1950 P. E. MILES BURIAL VAULT LATCH Filed March 18, 1946lhllllllllullll REMILES Mv M i atenteci A pr.

mam omen BURIAL VAULT LATCH Paul E. Miles, Atlanta, Ga., assignor toAtlanta Metallic Gasket 00., Atlanta, Ga.

Application March 18, 1946, Serial N0. 655,098

This invention relatesto improvements in grave vaults, andmoreparticularly to a grave vault base provided with fastening means fora separable hood or cover section.

An object of this invention is to provide a grave vault base withpivoted latch devices carrled by the side wall of the base and whichcooperate with associated spring means to engage with internal portionsof the vault hood to hold the hood securely in place on the base whendesired.

Another object of this invention is to provide a grave vault base withlatch devices carried by the side walls of the base which are adapted tocooperate with the inner flanges of a vault hood to hold the hood inplace when desired and to provide means for unlatching the devices whenit is desired to remove the hood.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a, grave vault basewith latch devices adapted to secure a vault hood in position over thebase and a lever protruding from the side walls of the base, themovement of which lever retracts the latches and permits the hood to beremoved.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide a grave vault basewith latching devices for securing a hood to the base together withspring means for constantly urging the devices to latching position andlever means at each end of the base for moving the latching devices torelease position.

To the foregoing objects, and others which may hereinafter more fullyappear, the invention consists of the novel construction, combinationand arrangement of parts, as will be more specifically referred to andillustrated in the accompanying drawing, but it is to be understood thatchanges, variations, and modifications may be resorted to which fallwithin the scope of the invention as claimed.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a grave vault base constructedaccording to an embodiment of this invention.

Figure 2 is a partial section taken on the line 2-2 in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Figure1.

Figure 4 is a bottom plan view of the release levers shown in Figure 2,with the base plate removed.

Referring to the drawing, the numeral It designates generally arectangular base for a grave vault embodying this invention.

1 Claim. (Cl. 27'-35) The base i0 is generally of conventional designcomprising a. flat horizontal top wall ll, depending substantiallyvertical side walls 12, and an outwardly extending horizontal baseflange I3, usually of integral construction and stamped from a singlesheet of metal. Base plates M are attached to the inside of the base! itbetween the side walls l2 substantially at their lower ends. The baseplates M at each end of the base it are formed with semi-circularcutouts or openings l5 at the transverse median thereof, with the edgeof the base plates i4 and the openings 15 abutting the end walls it. Theend walls 56 of the base ID are formed with centrally located elongatedopenings ll. The base flange I3, at each end of the base i0, is formedwith a centrally located downwardly projecting elongated offset Hi. Theside walls 22 are formed with rectangular openings 19, through which thelatch members 20 are adapted to project. The latch member 20 is stampedor otherwise formed from a piece of sheet metal and includes a pair ofelongated side members 2!, an outwardly projecting surface 22 disposedbetween said end plates near the lower end thereof, and an outsidesurface 22a extends upwardly from the outside of the projecting-surface22 to the upper end of the side members 2|. Near the upper end of theside members 2| and extending between the side members a fulcrum or rod23 is attached.

Inwardly of the opening l9 and attached to the lower side of the topwall H a flat spring 24 is secured by rivets or other suitable attachingmeans 25. The spring 24 attaches to the latch member 2!! by extendingoutwardly over the rod 23 then downwardly and presses outwardly on theinner side of the surface 22a. The downward projecting side members 2!limit the projection of the latch 21 by bearing against the side wall12.

At each end of the base Ill a support plate 2B is attached to the baseIll by welding or other suitable means. The support plate 2'6 issubstantially S-shaped. One end of the support plate is attachedperpendicularly to the lower side of the top wall II and extendsdownwardly about half way between the top wall H and the base plate M,the support 26 is then bent parallel to the wall H and extends nearly upto the end wall i6, where it is again bent downwardly and again bentparallel to the wall i I and in line with the base plate M in theopening it thereof and attaches to the inside of the end wall It abovethe opening l1.

An elongated lever 21 with an upwardly offset pivot section intermediatethe length thereof, is rockably secured to the lower side of the support26 between the support 26 and the base plate l4.

One arm of the lever 2'? is extended and formed 5 with a hook 28. Astifi wire or rod 32 extends from each arm of the lever 21 to the latchmembers 20 and is attached to the latch member 20 at the lower end ofthe side member 21, so thatv rocking moven'int'of the lever 2 willretract the latch members against the force of the spring 24.

Another elongated lever 29 is rockalol gsuper ported from the supportplate below the base plate i4. One arm of the le'verl29 extends out 15wardly through the opening 11 and 'within the:

offset l8 to form a handle 30.. The other end o f the lever 29 extendsinwardly and upwardly through the opening E5 in the base plate Miand isengageable with the hook 28 of the lever 21. A 20 lug; 3 ;I extendsdownwardly from the: lever 29 and engagesrin; thewheok Zfimf thelever2];

n he rmal position ofilthislatchi ge anism, the, latches 2 0 proj ect;fromthe side walls [2;

being held in this, positionjby thespringj 24; To 5,

the; springs; 24; again move,- the,v latches 20 out-U 3g,

w ardly into the, projecting or: latching position.

The exact configuration illustrated is regarded; as the optimum, butsome of the-desirableresultss inherent in this, disclosure maybeobtained by various; slight modifications including some de-.- 2

What I claim is:

A grave vault base comprising a horizontal top wall, depending side andend walls on said top Wall, outwardly extending flanges parallel to saidtop wall extending from the lower end of said side and end walls, saidflanges on the end walls formed intermediate the length thereof withdownwardly ofiset portions parallel to said flanges andtsa id end wallsproyided with openings above said "offset portions, spring-pressedlatches hingedly mounted on said side walls and extensible therethrough,a lever rockably mounted midway the length thereof between a pair oflatches on opposite side walls for swinging in a liorigontaliplaneparallel to said top wall rods connecting said latches and said lever, ahgolged egi t ens lon on one end of said lever, a second leverrockab'ly' mounted for horizontal swinging niovement, a lug on one endof said second lever engageable with said hooked extension, and a handleon: saidtsecondglever; opposit from said thereof.-

PAUL; E.. MILES.

REEEEQME Q. 311 3 59: The following-references areof record in thefileof this 'patenti UNITED-=-S7 TES PATENTS- ux b lt Nam Date 2,0383%Apr. 2. 1936- Li lian 2, 1940 2,135,493 J an. 2, 1949 ze a-35cc Dec. 3,1940

